Linux’s true promise has been overlooked

Well-meaning companies such as Mandriva, Novell/SUSE and Linspire try to shoehorn Linux into the broader desktop computer market as a direct threat to the aging Microsoft Windows. The marketing that accompanies these attempts obscures Linux’s true social power out of commercial neccessity. Let’s just say I don’t blame them, although I prefer the decidedly non-commercial environs of Ubuntu. The standard line goes something like “Linux is feature-packed, looks as good as the Mac, can do everything that the evil Windows can do and all the included applications are free, so just think of the savings!” The other more nuanced arguments concern people’s right to Free Software (Richard Stallman et. al).

But these arguments, although true and important, speak directly to the forward fringe of programmers already involved, tending to forget the pedestrain expectations of the untechy user.

People choose what nearby people choose

Clearly, Windows is standard not because it is the best or the easiest, but because it has historically had the largest population of users, estimated at somewhere between 90% and 97% of the total computer market. This population’s self-perpetuating effect is illustrated when parents interested in buying a computer for a college-bound son choose a Windows machine because it is standard on the college’s computer labs. You can’t really fault the parents because their choice is based on a desire for the most compatible experience for the child. With these factors occuring outside of the software itself, Linux must not get distracted by minscule gains in a quixotic quest for desktop dominance . Linux as an idea should strive to be above that.

Linux on everything

Guaranteed for reproducibility through the fearlessly free GPL license, Linux’s ability to run on all future and present hardware is inevitable. This combined with software’s ability to emulate past systems will make Linux a natural choice for recycling the machines of this ongoing Cambrian Explosion of digital technology. It will be twisted and tweaked into every nook of technology available, be it game consoles, cellphones, or that new hybrid you’ve been eyeing.

Another man’s trash…

I believe that Linux’s largest disruptive effect is represented by the countless high-performance machines that will be obsolete in 10 years. As has been the norm associated with Moore’s Law, computers will be thrown out as part of large corporate system changeovers. Those who have grown accustomed to using a computer as part of their business will settle into a 5-10 year buying pattern. Every couple years, out with the old and in with the new. All computers lose value as increasingly immersive experiences are developed to lure an increasingly tech-savvy consumer base to purchase new machines.

Currently, these purchase-influencing experiences include operating system upgrades, web applications, full-motion HD video, and internet connection standards such as bluetooth and wi-fi. As these new technologies become industry standard, your current computer becomes increasingly non-standard and out-of-date. Think of the TI 99/4A which taught me how to program BASIC and shoot space invaders or the Mac LCII which gave me a first glimpse at BBS’s and the internet. Both now are little more than thrift store fodder.

By imagining the trickle-down effects of mass amounts of discarded high performance machines for poor communities, social internet applications and scientific research simulations, Linux becomes less about dethroning Windows and more about bridging the digital divide.

Imagination’s microscope

Linux and its brethren BSD, represent an ability to salvage this future glut of cast-out computer resources. To be sure, the power consumption of these digital dark aged machines will cause us much guilt, but it won’t stop us from fashioning indie grid computing in bedrooms with leftover 64-bit machines. The aggregate effect of these decentralized and homegrown super computing resources, combined with emerging software’s ability to run complex simulations will produce a scientific revolution akin to the discovery of the microscope.

These disparate machines linked by Linux will churn out an infinite array of datasets by working together as a team . Map the universe and collide it in reverse, visualize world hunger as stats get updated online, sequence your sister’s DNA, imagine the structure of nano-particles too small for the naked eye, or chart the dances of the honeybee.

With plenty of available processing and Linux’s intimate connection with the internet, the knowledge harvesting from these simulations will define decision-making and scientific research. As scientific problem-solving evolves from the physical restrictions of the lab into limitless simulations run on recycled computers, the promise of Linux comes true.

Related:

• Purdue University’s Scrap-Iron: 1,008 recycled PC’s as super computer
• How to build a lionux cluster
• What happens to Industrial Light and Magic’s old computers?
• Recycling of Hardware
• The Green Operating System: Linux
• Digital Dinosaurs: What should you do with your old computer?
• Linux supercomputing grid unveiled for science use, 2001
• High-End Linux Clusters Will Serve Scientific Applications, 2001

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Saturday, July 30th, 2005 at 6:30 am

topic: tech